Rosanero Roundup

Luca Toni Goal Seals Relegation For Palermo is a post from: Serie A Weekly Luca Toni Goal Seals Relegation For Palermo is a post from: Serie A Weekly Luca Toni's strike just before half time allowed Fiorentina to keep up their slim hopes of a Champions League spot this season, but also condemned his former side Palermo, to relegation.

Serie A Weekly club previews continue with Palermo, written by our resident Rosanero master,
Lorenzo Vicini. 2010-2011 Recap A roller coaster ride that truly defined the Palermo colors of rosa
and nero summed up the previous season for the Sicilian side. Palermo stayed in the race for
Champions League football up until February when things came crashing down.

After drawing 2-2 in the first leg in Palermo, the Rosanero made the trip to Switzerland knowing
that they would need a win against FC Thun in order to guarantee a spot in the next round of the
Europa League. The club was hoping to avoid another repeat of the MladÃ¡ Boleslav debacle from a
few years earlier when Palermo crashed out very early in the UEFA Cup against the minnows from the
Czech.

With the dust barely settled on last season's campaign, Palermo have already taken to the field in
preparation for next season. The Stefano Pioli era has officially begun as the squad met in Malles,
a small town tucked away in the Trentino-Alto Adige region less than a hundred kilometers away from
the Swiss-Austria border.

"I prefer to close out the season, remembering that, according to what we've said to the president,
I will surely remain at Palermo next year as well." These were the words spoken by Palermo starlet
Javier Pastore towards the end of last season. Naturally, the talented trequartista was continually
asked throughout the entire season whether or not he would be moving on, and each time he.

As recently as a month ago, not many people could say they had heard of Stephan El Shaarawy. Serie
B can be very hard to follow (in Italy as well as abroad) and very few could say they had seen the
fantasista work his magic on the pitch. Fast-forward one month and the 18 year-old is on the way to
becoming a household name.

Once the final whistle blew in the Coppa Italia final loss on May 29th, Palermo have set out to
answer many of the question marks surrounding the team this offseason. Despite leading the Rosanero
to success in the past two seasons, Delio Rossi and Maurizio Zamparini mutually agreed to go their
separate ways.

After succumbing to a loss to Chievo on the final match day of the Serie A season, Delio Rossi was
asked if the result had him worried ahead of the all-important Coppa Italia final with Inter. The
Palermo tactician replied with the typical wit and wisdom that has endeared him to the Rosanero
population for two seasons now: "I would be worried if I didn't know my team, instead.

In their second to last game before the all-important Coppa Italia final, Palermo defeated
Sampdoria to exact a bit of revenge from last season and banish them to Serie B. Given last
season's exploits, the penultimate match against Sampdoria reminded many of the infamous draw a
year prior with a spot in the Champions League on the line.

The Rosanero had been waiting for this week ever since the result procured by Palermo on April 20th
against Milan in the Coppa Italia. With success in Serie A hard to come by, Delio Rossi and his men
knew that the season would be defined by what they did in the Coppa. Prior to playing the second
leg of the semifinal, Palermo had to play a largely meaningless game against the already relegated.

Despite being briefly reopened by a slew of positive results, Palermo proved to be solely committed
to only one competition left in the season: the Coppa Italia. Facing a resurgent albeit not yet
saved Parma side away from home, Delio Rossi's boys knew that the competition would be fierce.
Furthermore, the Rosanero were without Cesare Bovo and Fabrizio Miccoli due to.

During the months of February and March, a heavy cloud loomed over the Sicilian capitol. Gone were
the days of free-spirited, entertaining football which raised the level of confidence amongst the
Rosanero players to staggering heights. In its place was a team going through the motions week in
and week out with each devastating loss slowly crushing the souls of each player in pink and black.

Palermo had not experienced a successful run like the one that transpired over the past seven days
in quite some time. The Rosanero had two difficult matches with both coming away from home. First
up was a Roma team fresh off an American takeover still with ambitions of the Champions League.
After that, Palermo would play Milan at the San Siro in a crucial Coppa Italia semifinal.

There was much anticipation in the week leading up to Sunday's match against Cesena. An
unsuccessful run of only one victory in four games saw Zamparini bring back the greatest coach in
Palermo's Serie A history in Delio Rossi. Naturally, the entire city and the players welcomed the
beloved tactician back with open arms.

Over the past month and a half, Palermo have gone through a coaching carousel. The club president,
Maurizio Zamparini, sacked Delio Rossi and appointed Serse Cosmi in his place only to fire Cosmi
four games later and put Rossi back in charge. Yet, recent allegations made by Serse Cosmi
involving Zamparini have perhaps revealed a crisis beyond coaching.

With most of the peninsula focused on the Milan derby this weekend with the frontrunnersÂ taking on
their second place rivalsÂ for the Scudetto, it would be easy to forget about another derby taking
place that is just as important for the parties involved. The Derby della SiciliaÂ between Palermo
and Catania is second to none in terms of rivalry and passion.

402. The number represents the amount of minutes that had passed by since Palermo had last
experienced the feeling of putting the ball in the back of the net. Beyond ending the scoring
drought, the rosanero managed to end another terrible streak, beating league leaders Milan to stop
the free-fall at five consecutive defeats.

The Rest

Transfer market season is always chock-full of speculation and surprises. Often, the overwhelming
majority of rumors that find their way into mainstream media outlets never come to fruition. With a
number of prized assets on the Palermo roster and the team's policy of steady turnover each year,
the transfer window is always seen with a skeptical eye especially for the most astute Palermo.